After years of speculation that "The Walking Dead" character might be gay, creator Robert Kirkman addressed the rumor head-on earlier this week and said that storyline has been discussed.

"All I can say is that it's been discussed," Kirkman wrote in his latest "Letter Hacks" column in the comic book's Issue #130. "We have very specific ideas about Daryl's sexuality (or the seeming lack thereof), and if there's ever a quiet period in the show where he's not consistently distracted by crossbowing ... we'll tackle it in the show."

This was in response to a fan who asked, "I feel like if you had your way that Daryl would turn out to be gay ... so the real question is, would AMC let that fly?"

Kirkman stated "for the record, (AMC) absolutely would" allow the character to be gay.

The show has side-stepped many potential Daryl Dixon romantic storylines, including with Carol or Beth.

A character named Jesus (aka Paul Monroe) -- Rick Grimes's ally -- turned out to be gay in the comic book, but Daryl was created for the TV show and doesn't exist in the comic book universe.

Issue #130 was released on Aug. 13 and season five of "The Walking Dead" premieres October 12 on AMC.